Ok.  Here we go again.  It seems that every year the holiday creep happens a little sooner so I thought I would get my holiday creep on now, tell you all how to survive the holidays, and then we can all move on and enjoy ourselves. 

I don’t know about you, but for the next 6 weeks in my world there is some sort of holiday gathering happening every single weekend. Girl’s nights. Cookie exchanges. Work parties. Family Christmas dinners. And what accompanies all of these things? Copious amounts of wine and delicious foods. We all know what not to do, right? Sure the holidays are only here once a year but you can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. If you have a favourite treat (my Mom’s nuts and bolts mix which is like crack to me) then go for it. And go hard. But stay away from that awful Christmas chocolate in the lunch room.  Or maybe you just cut out the other treats, like cookies with your coffee to open up some room for a drop of Bailey’s in your coffee on a snowy holiday morning.

I promise that if you do a few simple things, you will come into 2018 unscathed.

1 – If you aren’t at a party or sitting on the couch watching your favourite holiday movie for the 20th time this year (Love Actually anyone?), put the wine down. How about this for a rule during the holidays. No drinking at home, alone.  

2 – Be consistent with your workouts. We all have a little less time around this time of the year, and the weather makes it a bit harder to get out and be motivated, so rather than focusing on long workouts, just focus on working out. 20 minutes is better than nothing so if that is all you can squeeze into your day, do it. Not working out is not an excuse.  

3 – My tried and true rule for the entire year, but especially the holidays, is make the wrong choice at the right time. Make your calories worth it! Fill those delicious food-filled nights with friends, laughs and maybe a slight hangover. Be bad, and indulge when it is the right time to indulge but be good when it is the right time to be good, like 8:30pm on a Tuesday night.

4 – I am not usually a fan of weighing yourself but sometimes it can be good to hold you accountable.  Now don’t panic if you notice a pound or two increase one day, as there can be a perfectly good explanation for that, but if the scale keeps creeping then you know it may be time to take a break from the indulging or get in a couple of extra-long and hard workouts. Once we are in the clear in 2018 then put the scale away but for now, maybe check in when you can.   

5 – Volunteer somewhere and fill yourself up with love, rather than food. I plan on donating my time to one of my favourite charities in Vancouver, The Union Gospel Mission. Giving back is a great way to feel good and when we feel good we make good choices. Call a local charity to see if you can lend a hand, go make a donation to a charity, like Covenant House (another of my favourites) or drop some food, or money, off at your local foodbank. When we realize how truly blessed we are it can help to make us realize that even if we do gain a pound, or 10, in the big picture it doesn’t really matter.  

If you need my help through the holidays or want help with goals for 2018, send your emails to me at [email protected]